AIS in the Los Angeles / Long Beach / Santa Monica area

[Richard19068]

A while back there was a thread on AIS but I can't find it. I think it was started by Rick Dinon. Anyway, does anybody have experience in the Southern California area as to what percentage of the tankers / freighters / cruise ships actually have AIS transponders turned on? I don't have radar due to cost and installation problems but with the price of receive only AIS units coming down, like the Sitex model with a built in screen at about $550, I'm thinking about getting one. First though, I wanted to see if anyone had any real experience with what percentage of the big boys were sending out a signal. If its not a big number then I don't think it would be worth it.Thanks.

 

[Chuck Creel]

big boys

WEll,in some places it is illegal to ransit the area without an AIS unit." Commercial that is . " The Ooast guard can place some pretty heavy fines on commercial vessels who don't have an AIS unit installed AND WORKING.Houston,Tx. , New Orleans,La., Morgan City,La. are the only ones i can speak for professionally. Im certain more will follow suit sooner or later.WE have to have them ON at ALL times 24/7 on tugboats underway.

 

[Bryce22345]

AIS

Its my understanding that AIS is now required under international maritime law. I don't recall the exact tonnage requirements for freighters and the like, but all passenger ferries and anything towing is required to have AIS. I suspect having the AIS off would be a big deal to the local law enforcement. we have numerous high speed catamaran ferries here in Boston and NE in general, in addition to our share of freighters, cruise ship and general harbor working traffic. you'll find that even ships docked and moored will be visible. there is a lot of user information that can be added to the AIS sentence, and that info is often suspect. but instrument information, i.e. SOG, course and heading, rate of turn is all inputted thru the ships instruments and is generally accurate. disadvantage is that recreational boats aren't required to have AIS, as of yet. so unlike radar they don't show up on AIS.Bryce

 

[Buck2796]

Richard,

Google "USCG AIS carriage requirements".These links will give you insight into who is SUPPOSED to be broadcastng AIS.I'm over here in Norfolk/Va. Beach, so I can't help you w/ Southern Calif.; however, my experience over here is that most ships/tugs that are supposed to be broadcasting, are. If the USCG catches them not complying, they can be fined. I suspect the same level of compliance holds true for the West coast.I installed AIS on my boat last June. Sailing in Hampton Roads; up and down the SE coast, and the Bahamas, since then; I have found that AIS is a wonderful tool to ease the stress of collision avoidance, especially at night. For example, when I came back across the Fla Straits from the Bahamas a few weeks ago, we were about 20mi off Lake Worth (Palm Beach) at midnight and, at one point, there were 9 ships within AIS range (~25mis) heading north and south. W/ AIS we knew their heading, speed, point(& time) of closest approach, etc. An, otherwise, stressful situation became an easy experience.I have an old Rathyeon RL70 radar w/o ARPA/DARPA; so AIS has been a great, low cost, addition.

 

[RichH]

If you are doing 'lap-top' navigation ....

... many of these NAV programs have additional application of overlay AIS capability, the AIS function from an (low cost) antenna/receiver module. There are some real-time AIS sites (Portland Me, Central Chesapeake, Puget Sound, etc.) that are available from the (ICP) internet and which you can use to 'check-out' such AIS function 'online' to these programs. If you have a macintosh: check out "MacENC" or GPSNavX program (discussion forum: http://macsailing.net/fbb/)

 

[Jadedcrew]

AIS with own display

The Si-Tex model with it's own display will require a NMEA0183 data stream from your GPS to properly display the location of the targets relative to your location (like looking at a radar screen).

 

[Rick D]

AIS in SoCal

Richard, I sail out of Long Beach, so I have plenty of opportunity to check out my AIS. I have a Smart Radio AIS receiver which I got for about $190. I cable it and a GPS bud to my laptop with the free SeaClear navigation program and NOAA charts I downloaded. Works like a charm and I don't have to hunt up which ports are what now that I'm used to plugging in to the same ones. To get to the point, all the commercial shipping has AIS including the crew boats, Catalina ferries and tugs. Lots of the compliance is pretty sloppy though, in that they don't input their destination and name. Most of the big ships have their size inputted. But, you still get all the critical information. As busy as my area is, it is very helpful. I also do several trips of several night duration and I know it will be really helpful out there to figure out what the big radar target is. Honestly, the biggest concern I have at night is towed barge traffic. It is hard to figure out the tow on the radar until it's nearly on you and if it is shoreside of you, the lights are hard to figure out. I have had one too many encounters for my comfort. I was using a rubber ducky antenna just for a while to get the hang of it. I have now converted to an antenna splitter on my nav station VHF which has a second antenna attached to the radar tower. It gives about four times the range of the rubber ducky antenna. In fact, I picked out commercial traffic on AIS at Catalina's east end, 31 miles away. Good luck, Rick D.

 

[Richard19068]

Thanks all for the input and information

And thanks Rick for the local info.I make six or eight night crossings to Catalina a year and think this will help out. But it will be particularly useful on those days where we get caught in the fog. Now I just need to figure out how to set up an antennae splitter. I can run the AIS and VHF off of one antennae can't I?

 

[Rick D]

You Can, Richard...

run the AIS and VHF from one antenna. You need a converter connection to go from the BNC on the AIS receiver to the PL 259 connector on your splitter, but it is readily available from Radio Shack. (At least I think those are the correct ones without looking.) You have four choices regarding the antenna. You can use a 9db scanner antenna attached directly to the receiver. This is what I did for awhile for simplicity's sake while I was getting used to it. It's good for about eight miles in open water. Another option, and likely the best choice, is a separate VHF antenna, maybe on your pushpit unless you have a radar pole like me. I may yet do this, but I HATE running the wires through my wiring runs. It is a full day job. Another option is a $120 automatic splitter available through the supplier (see link). This you can use with your main VHF antenna. Finally, you can use the semi-cheap option. I got a $50 manual antenna splitter. I just have to remember to always turn it to the VHF position before using my nav station radio or I'll blow it out. Since this is an old radio, it's a risk I can manage. Rick D.

 

[Richard19068]

Thanks Rick

I researched this a bit last night and came to similar conclusions. Sounds like ultimately a separate antenna is the way to go but you can get away with splitting. I appreciate the time you spent on the response.Richard